Fifth defendant admits role in college students' kidnapping

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The fifth of nine people charged in the abduction and assault of two New York college students has pleaded guilty in exchange for a 35-year prison sentence.

The Monroe County District Attorney's Office says 24-year-old Dennis Perez will be sentenced in November after pleading guilty Wednesday to kidnapping.

Prosecutor Matthew Schwartz says the pleas by Perez and four people before him speak to the strength of his office's case against the remaining four defendants, who are scheduled to be tried Oct. 31.

Authorities say the two male University of Rochester students were lured to a house in December, believing there would be a party. Instead, they were beaten and sexually assaulted, and one was shot in the leg over a 40-hour period.